OM t of c.iii - Vision Research Coordinating Center - Washington ...

2/1/99 Chapter 5 Scheduling page 5-5
that day, a postcard should be sent immediately advising the patient to call and
reschedule.
At the six-month point between visits, each patient should be telephoned to
update the information on the CLEK Subject Tracking Form and to see how the patient
is doing. This establishes an additional time of contact other than the Annual Visit.
A periodic review of the appointment book for the CLEK Study should be
conducted. Special attention should be paid to no-shows, cancellations, and reschedules
(both on the part of the patient and CLEK personnel) to determine if a pattern emerges
that can be addressed.
Late Visit Forms are faxed to the Clinic two weeks after a patient’s Annual Visit
anniversary date if the Coordinating Center does not have evidence that the patient has
been seen. Late Visit Forms are completed by Clinic personnel and faxed to the
Chairman’s Office.
Missed Visit Forms are faxed to the Chairman’s Office by the Coordinating
Center six months after the Annual Visit anniversary date if the Coordinating Center
does not have evidence that the patient has been seen. The Chairman’s Office transmits
them via fax to the Clinics. They are completed and faxed back to the Coordinating
Center.
Please get the patient in for an appointment whenever he or she is available,
even if an appointment time outside the target or six-month windows is scheduled. A
seen patient is not a lost-to-follow-up patient.
An internet search should be conducted by the clinic if access is available. If the
patient is still considered “unable to locate,” the patient’s name and all available locator
information should be forwarded to Jodi M. Malone, RN at the Chairman’s Office
(malone.6@osu.edu) for a more thorough search. For patients who have missed at least
their last two visits, Ms. Malone will conduct a search of the National Death Registry,
too.
The Clinic Principal Investigator should call the patient if the patient is a “noshow”
at least twice in a row. Also, the Clinic Principal Investigator should call the
patient if the patient expresses interest in discontinuing the study.
The Chairman’s Office can call and/or write any patient anytime as the Clinic
sees fit. Contact the Study Chairman, Karla Zadnik, OD PhD at zadnik.4@osu.edu to
generate that contact.